Dribble Belt

Hoppy Session Ale

What the heck is a Dribble Belt? Aside from being a hoppy, tasty low-gravity session beer, a dribble belt is a very important component of a hop picking machine. The dribble belts separate the hop cones from the rest of the plant material- the vines, stems, and leaves. Multiple conveyors beneath the dribble belts collect the lightweight hop cones and carry them along through the machine to the kiln where they are dried. The vines, stems, and leaves are then transported to become compost. Interestingly, the hop picking machine was invented right here in Santa Rosa, California, by Florian Dauenhauer in the early 1940’s. This invention changed the hop farming industry forever. The dribble belt is the machine component that literally separated the hops used to make this beer!